Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

FRENCH REGIONS MERGER PANIC: It’s a topsy-turvy world in which even French regional public servants need to start worrying about job security. Yet from January 1, 2016, France is undertaking a regional purge that will reduce the governments from the current 22 to 13. This is creating restlessness among staff of the regions’ offices in Brussels — it goes without saying that all 22 currently have delegations to the EU. Brussels Influence is told that Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne are already merging into one office but there is uncertainty about what will become of the rest — and staff are getting worried.

REGIONAL RESISTANCE: Because regional offices are able to lobby for local industries without having to appear on the EU Transparency Register (governments are exempt from the transparency regime), there is no shortage of them in Brussels. According to Germany’s official representation to the EU, there are 15 delegations in Brussels for 16 Bundesländer (states) — the only two states who are prepared to share facilities are Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (it’s called the “Hanse-Office”). Italian regions are also immune to cost-cutting, with all 20 regions lobby-ready. Valle D’Aosta, the semi-autonomous Alpine region which boasts a population of 128,000, has an office right above one of Brussels Influence’s favorite sandwich shops.

UMBRELLA POLITICS: The Social Platform is an organization that gathers around 49 networks of NGOS working on social issues and represents more than 2,800 organizations across Europe. That’s a lot of social policy real estate to cover, which makes changes at the top of the Platform’s pyramid big news. Jana Hainsworth, who is the secretary-general of children rights’ advocate Eurochild, is the new president, replacing Heather Roy, who spent six years in the role. Other members of the managing committee include vice-presidents Barbara Helfferich, from the European Anti-Poverty Network, and Maciej Kucharczyk, from AGE Platform Europe, which campaigns on seniors’ issues. Allan Päll, from the European Youth forum, completes the committee as its treasurer. Their offices? Lobbytown: Square de Meeûs.

OLAF, THE JUDGE AND THE WHISTLEBLOWER 1: The recent decision by the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF to open an investigation into the case of Romanian whistleblower Cornelia Trentea is hardly surprising. It is not the first investigation OLAF has opened into what has become a sprawling, logic-defying legal case and it may not be the last. Yet OLAF’s latest foray into the matter (the office’s statement has been seen by Brussels Influence) indicates just how complex it has all become. According to the documents, what started off as a run-of-the-mill story of an EU institution clashing with an internal auditor after she raised concerns over a procurement process has now descended into the plot of a spy novel, with Trentea claiming her home address was passed on to a private eye who twice banged on her door late at night demanding that she sign documents in a language she did not speak.

OLAF, THE JUDGE AND THE WHISTLEBLOWER 2: It gets weirder. The documents suggest that when Trentea was fired from her role with the Vienna-based Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), she took her case to the Civil Service Tribunal (CST). There, as Trentea alleged in a subsequent written submission to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), her case was handled by a court judge who was also being paid by the FRA for legal advice. In short: Trentea alleges (relying on documents she has obtained) that there was a conflict of interest. The response of the ECJ was to say that its code of conduct did not cover such an eventuality, so its hands were tied.

SECESSIONIST FOOTBALL: The European Commission usually runs a mile from anything resembling an unrecognized state, fearing the ire of the EU’s 28 member countries who like to pretend their separatist movements don’t exist. This reluctance to mingle with sub-state actors will be put to the test when lobbyists from the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) start to swan around the Berlaymont. CONIFA, established in 2013, is the grouping of football leagues (football is what Americans call soccer) from non-states. There’s a Romani team; Padania (northern Italy) is represented; Occitania (southern France) is ready to take to the pitch.

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